A year after floating plans for the refurbishment of a gas turbine power plant to help alleviate load-shedding, the Nelson Mandela Bay municipality has appointed a service provider to conduct an assessment of the viability of the project.
Last used in 2010, the ModPod 50 gas turbine generation plant is said to have an installed capacity of 50MW (megawatts) when fully operational.
Nelson Mandela Bay Business Chamber chief executive Denise van Huyssteen said they had first mooted the idea of a study being undertaken to determine the viability of getting the gas turbine up and running as a means of accessing emergency power.
“However, given the critical and urgent requirements around ensuring continuity of power for industry, many of the interested manufacturers have already purchased diesel generators which they are running at increased cost to mitigate against the impact of load-shedding and unplanned power outages.
“At this stage, there would be limited interest in accessing the gas turbine power, unless the study was undertaken and determined that a reliable cost-comparative source of power can be made available to the industry, along with the relevant timelines for implementation.
“The frequency of unplanned power outages is of major concern to the chamber, particularly in the industrial areas where manufacturers are incurring extensive losses.
“These typically result in damage to equipment and machinery, scrapping of products, production targets and export orders not being met, the implementation of short-time and the retention of employment at risk.
“As organised business, we would like to collaborate with the municipality to identify the root causes of the outages, and work together to develop and implement a plan of action to address the issues speedily,” she said.
Municipal spokesperson Mamela Ndamase said the tender process was at a service level agreement (SLA) stage, with an order made for the assessment of the turbine.
“The SLA is being finalised and is envisioned to be signed by the successful tenderer before the end of March.
“With the appointment of a service provider, this means the municipality will be able to conduct a condition assessment of the state of the gas turbine; determination of the cost to get the project off the ground is completely dependent on the condition assessment to be performed and its outcome.
“Only once the assessment is complete will we be able to know the cost associated with getting the project off the ground,” Ndamase said.
Refurbishment of the gas turbine could generate 40MW of power towards the grid, which could also avert about two stages of load-shedding.
Ndamase added that the metro had continuously reached out to businesses and residents who owed the municipality for services.
“We call on businesses to come forward to make payment arrangements and we conduct blitzes regularly to collect money owed to the municipality, and even disconnect businesses from the electricity supply,” she said.
On Tuesday last week, the municipality conducted one of these blitzes.
The team visited businesses in Summerstrand, South End, North End, Central, Korsten, Coega and Sydenham.
The businesses owed the municipality more than R7m.
HeraldLIVE